Look Ahead with Hope but Keep a Wary Eye on the Past

It is very encouraging that well organised and intelligent argument challenging the status quo put forward by key social media contributors has turned the spotlight on club governance and who is making footballing decisions and how the long-standing and extremely poor communication to fans has suddenly sharpened minds. It is having an impact.

As long as those voices also call for calm and some patience in giving Frank Lampard time to build a more positive, confident front-foot footballing team. It won't happen overnight but a light has been turned on this week.

I'd resigned myself to three years of Benitez boredom, lumbering around midtable till the new stadium is finished at Bramley-Moore Dock, but the last week has rekindled my Evertonian spark.

A potentially very good manager, with two deadline signing that, shock horror, run towards the goal and move the ball quickly. Two signings that the other two candidates wouldn't have attracted, in my view.

We still need s proper centre-back. I'd like a decent, more mobile centre mid. That's for the summer. The rest of the season is about getting points. I'm expecting better, faster football. I'm not expecting fabulous results straightaway, but I'm expecting progressive improvements.

Going down? I got 1/1 for us to stay up straight after that 5-1 mauling at Southampton. I lumped on, it was buying money. Last week the odds were 1/7. Bet they're longer now.

I was resigned to losing Calvert-Lewin & Richarlison in the summer. I wonder if Frank can persuade them to stay?

Great article, bang on the money.

While there is no doubt that the protests certainly made the owners and the board aware that we were not happy and we want changes, and the protest probably halted the appointment of Pereira, and thankfully the Belgium FA put a stop to the return of Martinez.

But the first protest suggested by the 27 Years Campaign to walk out on 27 minutes against Arsenal completely backfired. Because as fans it felt like the ultimate betrayal to walk out on our team when in the greatest need of our support. They completely misunderstood the feelings of the fans.

While there is no doubt a section of the fan base that wants Kenwright to resign, does that mean that if he does then everything will be fine. But for me, my biggest question is who does own Everton, the accountant or the business magnate who he works for?

As I have said before on T/W, I can't think of a club where the main sponsor sits and interviews candidates for the manager's job. So how come that nobody has asked Moshiri why and how is that happening?

Now I know this is not new – Joe Lewis calls the shots at Spurs but allows Levy to act as if he owns the club. But I am not interested in Spurs only Everton.

I doubt we will get a definitive answer to that question but maybe, if there is any genuine dialogue between Moshiri and the fans, maybe he will answer that question. Which is fundamental for the fans to know who we should be directing our criticism towards – rather than the stooges he has to take the flack.

The January window is a difficult one always with limited options, and even more so as we're are carrying the burdensome chains of FFP. I think we've done very well considering.

As Paul T says above, a quality centre-back and defensive mobile tenacious centre mid needs addressing too in the summer. But we done well with Donny and Dele. Two real quality midfielders, top four standard midfielders, if Frank can somehow bring them back to form. I'm betting he can, it may take a few games but their quality is going to kick in.

If key players can stay fit ,we can be a force again these last 18 games playing more exciting attacking football. I can see some 3-2s, 4-3s, 4-2s coming down the line. All in our favour, of course.

You know what – I'm proud to be an Evertonian again!

Bill simply leaving on its own doesn't really solve much, particularly if he is acting as some kind of check against an erratic and unpredictable owner. Now, as I intimated in Part III of my "Sleepwalking..." series, if Kenwright is trumpeting Martinez as the answer to our managerial vacancy then he is part of the problem as a backward-looking force on the Board.

But he is also the only person there at the moment capable of effectively negotiating with other clubs and he is greatly respected in the game. The strategy should be to ease him out and not only replace him with effective leadership but pad the board with equally effective people. There should be a succession plan in place regardless because Bill is 76 and has had well-documented health concerns in recent years (although he is comparatively well these days).

A trophy soon?

I thought Moshiri looked ghostly on his other appearance but was willing to think bad lighting or something. He's turning albino from the pressure.

Bill looks rather annoyed as well which may be his best mode if he had anything to do with those transfers that have at least halted the emo-rot surrounding the club.

Frank looks buoyant, as though he feels like this is a club level where he can operate comfortably and grow into coaching. Let's hope he can just get things going in the other direction.

Alli had another 3½ years on his contract at over £5M per year, he hasn't been the player he was for the last 2 years, so you could possibly say that Levy has saved Spurs nearly £17M in wages and could possibly net Spurs another £20M if Alli hits it off, which I hope he does.

But it is Everton taking all the risks here. If he doesn't hit it off, we are the ones who have the job of selling him or stuck with him for a further 2 years.

Frank looks a bit like Luke Skywalker posing between Jabba the Hut and Bib Fortuna

I don't think the Board or Moshiri have changed one iota, but they are surely near the end of the road as far as making a Horlicks is concerned.

As Lyndon says, he should be in the process of finding his own successor, or does he want to die with his boots on?

I find it hard to have an awful lot of sympathy for him to be honest – the club has been in serial decline for over 20 years and the lack of any sustained periods of success, on and off the field is simply negligence and a stubborn reluctance to change.

His own personal recruitment policy is based largely on not 'disturbing the status quo' and steadfastly refusing to look outside the 'Everton family' to improve things.

Even club ambassador roles are given to players in my view, who are not worthy of the title 'legends' (I won't name the obvious people), but it stinks of nepotism of the highest order.

Change is long overdue.

As a personality I like Cahill but ascribing deep experience of football business from his position as a Qatari employee may be stretching things though. Qatar is not known for much beyond massive oil wealth and huge abuse of poor foreign workers, after all, apart from deep corruption with the likes of Sepp Blatter of course. Come to think of it, that may make him a sound candidate for our club's governance to whoever's in charge of us.

I hope he, Lampard, and the rest of the new coaches can at least galvanise way too many at Finch Farm into the basics such as ball control, running, accurate passing and shooting and, if it's still permitted, tackling and defending.

A lot to ask of millionaire men admittedly with sod-all else to occupy their few hours allegedly training, but unless that changes all but immediately we're still up shit creek.

Staying in the Premier League will long since be an achievement this season. Top half will be miraculous.

I just made a similar post on another thread. Whilst I am genuinely hopeful regarding Lampard, I am sceptical of the parallel arrangement of the Strategic Review, particularly the continuing theme of ex-player appointments.

I advise you not to read the recent ToffeeWeb referenced article in the Mail. It basically concludes Kenwright is a treasure, we are lucky to have him, and he should go on forever. I suspect the involvement of Bill's PA and PR assistant, with Bill's blessing.

Frank has brought in training ground types who, on recent training ground footage, are crowding out Duncan, with additions possible.

The vacancies to replace other Benitez vacated positions are still not announced. Maybe this is within Cahill's recent-found expertise and remit.

I would never doubt that Levy would ensure the deal works to his advantage – and it does for all the reasons you mention. But I maintain that it still works very well for us in that, importantly, it pushes any expense of his transfer into next year's accounts when around £13m/year will be coming off the wage bill as Tosun, Sigurdsson and Delph are expected to leave.

And if it doesn't work out and we do have to pay £10m for Dele Alli, there's every chance we would get our money back at the very least from another club willing to try their luck with him. I can't see a player of his ability kicking around on our bench for 2 years; someone will fancy their chances of getting the best out of him.

I'm optimistic Lampard will get a tune out of him, though. Fresh start, arm around the shoulder, chip on the other shoulder and a point to prove... It's there for him if he wants it – and that'll be the key.

I concur with the sentiment. We have ended up in a positive position but seemingly by default and a result of a major uprising on the terraces by our own passive standards. Left to their own devices, we'd have had either Martinez back or the Portuguese guy. I'm not necessarily for Kopite-style socialist rallies, but let's keep the heat on the owner to deliver on the pitch as well as the fantastic stadium he is taking us to.

To slightly contradict myself, whilst us supporters are the heartbeat of the club and should be listened to, we shouldn't dictate. I like your conciliatory remark about Kenwright's negotiation influence. Maybe that's his role. But not running the club. If you want an emotional Evertonian to run the club, employ me for nothing.

It feels like Moshiri has finally woken up and decided to take control as his previous approach of leaving it to the old guard, which nearly bit him in the proverbial. Surround yourself with a professional board that can run the club for you and achieve success. And leave them to it. But credit for stepping in to steer the ship.

With regards to Tim Cahill. Spot on. Those of us who have pointed the finger at the Old Boys Club mentality – I'm one of them – don't dislike or not want ex-players or Evertonians in key appointments. We just want them employed because they are the best people for the job regardless of their background and previous.

We all just want the best for Everton. I am feeling more positive than I have in 12 months.

Caveat, I'm a fool when it comes to Everton. They have my unreserved loyalty and following no matter what they put me through.

Yes, we've signed a young hungry manager who will galvanise the players, and with the two new signings will keep us up this year and slowly improve us over the next couple of years with equally astute signings.

My Head

We've done it again, a manager that has no experience,certainly not of a relegation battle. We now select managers based on what people graffiti on walls. He will be sacked before the end of the season.

We've signed yet another dud from Man Utd, we never learn, and a player that is so highly rated that three or four managers didn't want him and Daniel Levy, the man who squeezes every penny out of every deal is willing to let him go for nothing initially.

Manager's achieved more in his time at Chelsea than the great Ginger One achieved at Man Utd (and indeed, matching entire career with a 4th place and a cup final).

If Alli is a dud, we'll only pay his wages for a bit (Compare that to Sigurdsson et al). If Donny is a dud he gets sent home in 4 months. Both are the right age, and both played huge roles in taking their teams to Champions League semis.

Franks being fully supported in surrounding himself with an exceptional coaching set-up, and we suddenly have football men who care for us (Cahill and Sharp) advising the owner instead of the parasite agent.

My head says the worm is finally turning. My heart will take years to get over the sinking feelings, but it's feeling better than it has for a while. Maybe, just maybe, the School of Science is on its way back.

We also have more goals and creativity in the form of Alli, Van de Beek and El Ghazi. Also a good thing.

We've still got all sorts of issues to resolve on and off the pitch but, as Lyndon says, we've finished the window on a positive note.

I have my doubts about Lampard but I'm open-minded. I have my doubts about Alli – especially the integration alongside Van de Beek and others.

But I think we have plenty enough to stay up (which should never have been an issue anyway) and the right blend in the squad can be addressed in summer when we're likely to get some big fees in and the wage bill reduces when various contracts end.

Given where we could be, I think there's very little to complain about. Anything materially better than this would have been completely unrealistic.

I hope we have signed a lucky manager – because even a hard working, talented manager's plans can get scuppered by bad fortune – injuries to key players, poor refereeing decisions, opposing teams getting lucky with us, etc, etc.

My wish for this season is to end up with a net positive goal difference (presently -11), Patterson and Mykolenko and Alli bedding in as regular starters, El Ghazi and Van de Beek chipping in with 4-5 goals each and showing enough to make us want to sign them permanently.

(BTW, we have 2 ex-Ajax, Dutch national players on our books – that must be a first, surely! – albeit on loan.)

Oh, and winning the FA Cup would not be too bad!

I don't disagree with anything you've written, it will just be a while before my head will let me believe it.

I think this is a good post. We all want to get washed away on the sea of optimism that a new manager and new signings bring but there are legitimate concerns over all of our January activity I'd say.

We definitely have more options and if VDB and Alli get near their best they will help us avoid relegation. But those are big 'ifs'.

The thing that I feel most optimistic about is possibly the backroom staff with Paul Clement in particular an excellent addition. But the thought of a central 3 with Alli and Van de Beek (both of who are limited defensively) with any other concerns me.

Relegation battles are often won by the teams that are most secure defensively and I'm very curious/worried to see how this transpires with Lampards Everton.

Will he delay his preferred style till we get some more points on the board? The head continues to worry and will only stop once we've got a fair few more points on the board.

This has been in part due to the owner appearing to have listened to the supporters. As I mentioned on another thread, the communications at Everton over the years has been dire, I might even say contemptuous, but now the door seems to be opening a crack, and as Lyndon says, we must make sure those channels remain open both ways.

That way, the club could develop and communicate its strategy and goals for the future to the fans and arrange its recruitment, youth development etc around that strategy and supporters and protest groups would be able to contribute to that long-term plan and question why if it is not being achieved.

I see the need for a skilled Director here to act as a conduit between club and stakeholders but who can also liaise closely with the manager on football matters.

It's only my own personal opinion but I would like to see a more democratic ownership of the club; a majority shareholder makes the club essentially a one-man business, the directors may be given specific roles but essentially are only advisers.

Modern professional football is a highly capitalised international business and clubs need to be organised and run accordingly.

It's been a while since I've seen the fanbase so united – some are obviously more skeptical of Lampard than others, but I don't think I've seen anyone who flat-out opposes his appointment.

It could turn out that Lampard's too inexperienced and ill-suited to the task at hand... Mykolenko and Patterson aren't ready to contribute anything of note this season... the El Ghazi loan proves utterly pointless as he wallows on the bench... Van de Beek really isn't cut out for the Premier League... and Dele Alli remains unmotivated and unsalvageable.

OR... Lampard learns from his stints at Derby and Chelsea and proves exactly the sort of young, progressive manager we need to stave off any relegation fears and take us forward... Mykolenko and Patterson become the building blocks for a young and dynamic new defense that also includes Godfrey and Branthwaite... El Ghazi plays a valuable role, Van de Beek gets a chance to finally showcase his quality... and Dele Alli is reignited and once again looks a generational talent.

Realistically it'll probably be some combination of the two scenarios. But with Lampard, we can at least *see* the path forward again, and that brings much-needed hope and optimism.

I'm not too pessimistic how it will end up – just being pragmatic about the Alli deal – but maybe Frank can get him back to something like the player he was.

We need to be patient and understand that the manager might not have all the players he needs to play a high pressing game at present. That will come with time.

6 years, £500M, 6 managers since Moyes left is one abysmal record and has to go down as the worst in our entire history, let alone our Premier League history. We all know the root cause of our demise, it was coming but who would have bet on it being nearly 30 years?

For me, I'm looking forward to Saturday; it's a pity Donny and Dele are cup-tied as they are eager to get started and we are eager to see how they perform and what system Lampard employs.

So it looks like we (they) have to wait until the Newcastle game to find out.

ps: Love the face on Kenwright – I hope this appointment has pissed him right off!

I am hoping that a new manager and fresh faces will catapult us up the league and go on a good cup run, with good football to go with it.

I dread to think of the other side of what may happen, but I will go with the positives and believe at long last we will have a manager and a team that will at last challenge for Europe and trophies, eventually.

I think you sum up the situation perfectly and even give Kenwright his due in transfer negotiations.

I have always liked Lampard and he seems self-effacing and humble. The club were caught out by circumstance when Real Madrid came calling for Carlo, but of course his daughter had endured a disgusting burglary and his ex-wife had been ill.

Carlo had probably decided that it was not for him before Madrid gave him his swansong. Add to this the bizzare appointment of Benitez and the strange loss of the Iceman followed by injuries to our key players and you have the ingredients for the perfect storm.

The owner (looking like a Bond villain above) and his poorly chosen cohorts would have continued to wreck our future with their attempts to hire either Roberto or Periera.

Thank goodness for the fans who did protest. By hook or by crook, I think we got the right man for the task. I'm excited at the prospect of Dele and Donny helping to create.

My big worry (in the light of losing Doucouré) is that the two newest lads avoid injury. We need their feel-good factor to materialise in goals and assists, we need Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin to get going and then we will be fine.

Frank Lampard – A New Hope?

Whether or all works out not is a sporting discussion now. We've at least given ourselves a chance.

Hindsight might say that signing unknown quantities and recent failures was foolish in our predicament. Or it might say that taking in people with upside and a point to prove was the only way out of our current funk.

I'm just happy to have some hope. It could work. Which is a step up from the last major appointment we made.

If Dele Alli can click back into form with a few goals and assists to keep us up, then he's worth every penny.

If Lampard gets the fans on his side with some positive football, then he's gonna have Goodison rocking.

If only Moshiri and Kenwright had not jumped onto that photo with Frank Lampard, then I would not be cringing right now.

But I didn’t hear anything inspiring from Lampard’s interview. Cliches that would fit with any job he got. That’s not criticism, that’s what he’s supposed to say.

I’ve no idea what Cahill is supposed to be doing or if he’s any good so I’m not sure why he’s savvy or whatever other positive adjectives are being thrown around. Is Joorabchian still knocking about, and if so, why?

The jury is out across the board for me.

From a club that looked doomed and so out of touch with the faithful, to suddenly looking like a forward-thinking, professional football club with real plans in place to not only get out of the mess we're in but genuinely build a better and hopefully a successful future.

The hard work starts now for all concerned with knocking Brentford out of the cup on Saturday... can't wait!.

COYB

I'm not necessarily optimistic at this stage that he is the answer to our long-term prayers and the jury is out by definition – there's no evidence to judge Lampard on as Everton manager. He is relatively inexperienced and the biggest Achilles heel of his managerial career to date is the same as ours – conceding goals.

But, very few managers can go from 0 to 60 with their first or even second job. It's a constant learning and growing experience and, again, every person we could have hired (with the possible exception of Guardiola because he is so exacting and obsessive) would have been a risk.

Let's see how he gets on but just being able to lure Van de Beek and Dele Alli our way might be enough to get him through to the end of the season. I can't envisage those two being at Everton with Vitor Pereira or even Duncan Ferguson in charge!

Deadspin: Everton completely change gears, hires Frank Lampard

I do have a concern about Lampard's teams conceding a lot of goals (our Achilles heel) and feel that we won't see the best of him until we get a hatchet man in midfield,d like Kante or N'Didi together with a beast of a centre-back (Newcastle stole Dan Burns).

However with, Alli and Van de Beek, I think we have enough in the tank to start climbing the table.

If you'd mentioned unlimited monkeys and unlimited lawnmowers, I'd have been much more in agreement!

It is highly unlikely that the new manager would, initially, select all the recently acquired players but supposing he did, and allow me a little latitude on keeper, central defenders and strikers, who would you change?

Keeper: Pickford (obviously);
Full-backs: Patterson and Mykolenko;
Centre-backs: Branthwaite and Mina or Godfrey;
Midfield: Van de Beek, Alli, El Ghazi;
Strikers: Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Gray or Gordon;

Bench: Begovic, Coleman, Godfrey or Mina, Holgate, Allan, Townsend, Gordon or Gray with Keane, Kenny and Dobbin on standby. (Delph and Gbamin could have been included as recently available).

Which just leaves one of the new manager's many assistants on introductions and another on bugle, blowing the "Charge!".

Naming your own is a fundamental right of the online poster. Most of us love it, and it's probably a big reason why we get frustrated so quickly when managers didn't pick the team they wanted and results don't go right way.

I think most of us want 4-3-3, and most of us would pick a team similar to yours, albeit Allan or Doucouré would take the place of El Ghazi in your lineup, IMHO.

I like the idea of Branthwaite and Godfrey as a partnership for teams we are going to really go at. By all accounts, both are rapid, so a high line can be played to reduce any gap between midfield and defence.

Bizarrely, I'd like to see Gbamin or Holgate tried again in the defensive midfield role that would allow Van de Beek and Alli to attack, and the full-backs get up a bit too. The defensive midfielder would drop almost into a back 3 at times.

I think Brentford is an ideal game to try it… as much as I'd love a cup run and a wining start to Lampards tenure, the Premier League has got to be priority until we are clear.

Saturday's team for me:

Pickford
Patterson Godfrey Branthwaite Mykolenko
Townsend Gbamin Gomes
Gordon Calvert-Lewin Richarlison

Unless any have a blinder, I'd expect to see Mina, Allan, Gray, Coleman or Kenny and both the new boys come into it on Tuesday. Saving Allan and Mina, I think, is especially important.

The paragraphs following 'Were it not for increased agitation..." are strong and give me something to live for on the other side of this.

We at least get to a point where we can all celebrate the 'thatness' of this club and get on with another run at those fuckers above us.